


Sands of Time 4

by sweatingshirt



Series: Sands of Time [1]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Sleepyboisinc, tommyinnit - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:48:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28615332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweatingshirt/pseuds/sweatingshirt
Summary: AN SBI AU in which Tommy and Tubbo works together in order to solve the mysterious deaths of their adoptive brothers and father.Will they solve the mystery, or fall into misery?
Series: Sands of Time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2096790
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1: Shock

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> mentions of suicide  
> character death  
> violence  
> blood/gore  
> guns  
> crime (fraud)  
> bars (?)

It’s a loud night in the subdivision. Gossip girls and nosey men were out and about whispering about what might have happened for the police to be in their area so late at night. It was, however, a different kind of loud for Tommy. It was as if he was glued into place. He couldn’t move an inch, and everytime he breathed, he felt as if he was drowning.

**September 14, 2019 | 9 p.m**

It has been hours since Phil, Wilbur, and Techno left from their small get together. It was Wilbur’s birthday and the whole family was celebrating at the family house, where Tommy and Tubbo live with Phil.    
  
“Tubbo,” Tommy called out. He was wondering where his brother and dad might be. “Techno called me an hour ago that he was home. Did Dad and Will come home yet?”   
  
Tubbo comes peeking through his doorway. “I didn’t hear the garage door open or even the car pull up. They’re not home yet.”

Tommy started to worry.  _ They’ve never been out for this long. If they were, they’d always call _ , he thought. He knew something was off, but he shaked his thoughts away for the better of his sanity.

He got off his seat and started walking towards Tubbo’s room. He had nothing to do since it wasn’t a school night, so he decided to know what Tubbo is up to.   
  
“What are you doing,” Tommy asked as he opened the door, entering his brother’s room. Tubbo spun around in his chair, faced Tommy, and said “You ought to learn how to knock.” He spun back around as Tommy walked to his side. Tubbo started writing again as Tommy examined what seemed to be a messy cluster of notes.

“It’s a work in progress,” Tubbo said when he realized Tommy was looking. Tommy nodded and looked around in his brother’s room. He spotted a small bee plush up on one of his shelves. 

“Hey Tubbo,” he started, “Isn’t this the bee that I gave you when we were younger?”   
“Yeah. Back at L’Orphanage.”

“I gave this to you because you scraped your knee and you were bawling.”

Tubbo faced him. “I was not crying,” Tubbo said with a stern face.

Tommy chuckled as he muttered, “Yeah, you were.”

He left Tubbo to his own devices and realized he was feeling a bit parched. He started walking down the stairs, humming a song to himself. His humming started to fade when he reached down the stairs and noticed the television open and what seemed to be a lock of blond hair resting on the couch. Tommy instantly assumed it was Phil. He walked to the kitchen, grabbed himself a glass of water, and drank it as he walked to “Phil”.   
  
“What took you and Wilbur so long to get home,” he asked. “You know that Tubbo and I worry when you don’t respond to our messages.” Tommy paused for a bit, waiting for his dad to respond. But nothing, there was just silence.

“Phil, are you ignoring me? What did I do?”

…

“Phil?” Tommy walked closer to the couch, a bit pissed about being ignored.

“Phil, you know I don’t like being ignored一!”   
  
Tommy tapped Phil’s shoulder and almost instantly, his arm flails on the arm of the couch, all bloody and pale. Tommy was startled, a small yelp escaped his mouth, small enough not to be heard by Tubbo. He walked to the side of the couch slowly with the feeling of uneasiness, along with anxiousness, slowly building up inside him. 

Step. Step. Step.

All the emotions that coursed through his body were drained for a split second. His eyes widened at the sight he was seeing. He couldn’t believe it. He felt numb, he felt… nothing. It was silent and all that could be heard was the glass falling from his hand, shattering on the floor. Then in just a millisecond, screams started to fill the house, Tommy rushed to Phil’s side, uncaring on whether blood would stain him or not. Tears fell from his eyes, his voice slowly running out.    
  
Tubbo rushed down, shouting Tommy’s name. Worry filled his mind as he ran down the stairs only to see his brother struggling to carry their adoptive father’s lifeless body. He couldn’t believe his eyes, there was too much to see. There were too many things going on. 

Tommy looks at his brother, tears still falling. His sobs filled the room this time. “Tubbo, please call someone!”

He was panicking, struggling, stepping on broken pieces of what was once a whole glass. He didn’t care if it hurt, losing a father hurt enough. He could lose a finger in that very moment, he still wouldn’t give a damn.   
  
Phil’s eyes, once full of colour and joy, now empty and gray still staring at the culprit.

**September 14, 2019 | 11:35 p.m**

“That’s all that happened,” Tommy said lifelessly to Bad, head police detective of the DSMPNP (Dream SMP National Police).    
  
“Thank you for your help, Tommy,” Bad replied as he headed back to his trainee assistant to fill him in with the important details he had gathered.   
  
By this time, the police had confirmed that Wilbur and Techno were dead as well. On this dreadful night, Tommy was still. It’s as if he was paralyzed, stuck in just one place with a gray blanket around him. He couldn’t feel a thing. No one talked to him, not even Tubbo. Tubbo was busy talking to the police about this whole situation, being the strength Tommy needed.

“I worry for him,” Tubbo mumbled to himself but Bad heard. 

“Hm? Oh, I do too. I remember when he was just a kid, I used to babysit you two. It must be hard on him. I’m surprised you’re holding up well.”

Tubbo sighs. “I have to be strong for him. For them.”

In Tommy’s eyes, shock lingers.


	2. Chapter 2: Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SBI AU in which Tommy and Tubbo works together in order to solve the mysterious deaths of their adoptive brothers and father.
> 
> Will they solve the mystery, or fall into misery?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS!  
> mention of suicide  
> character death  
> violence  
> blood/gore  
> guns  
> crime (fraud)  
> bars (?)

***asterisks/starred words have additional information at the end**

**September 15, 2019 | 10 a.m**

Tubbo got up early to check on the autopsies of his father and two brothers. He asked Tommy if he wanted to come with, but to no avail. Having no one to drive him there, he commuted riding a *jeepney to the police station. In just a few minutes, he reached his destination.

Upon his approach to the doors of the station, many of his adoptive father’s old colleagues had given him their condolences for his loss. 

Phil is a role model to many in the industry he works in. Being a chief of police with zero kills during his term was impressive to the masses. His ways of handling injustices are almost always peaceful. In his death, however, he did not look peaceful at all.

Dr. Liam met up with Tubbo outside the crime lab to discuss what caused his relatives’s deaths. Dr. Liam flipped through his clipboard, checking if he had everything in line. “Okay, so,” he started. “We did the autopsy, got a lot of help from other doctors just for you, and we got the results.” He handed over an envelope containing the autopsy to Tubbo.

“We found 48 stab wounds on Chief’s body. Wilbur was strangled,” he paused, taking a deep breath. “It went pretty deep that his vocal chords are all messed up.” Dr. Liam looked at Tubbo’s face, pity is all that he felt when he saw the boy’s almost teary eyes. “Techno, however, was poisoned.” 

Dr. Liam urged Tubbo to open up the envelope, flipped to the page where the causes and times of deaths are shown. “The odd thing here is that Techno didn’t die several hours before his body was found. It seems that he drank tea with poison in its contents.”

“How could he have been poisoned,” Tubbo asked, confused at how it was possible. “Tommy and I talked to him over the phone 2 hours before we found Phil.” Dr. Liam’s eyes widened.

“Funny you say that, because Techno’s body was already 2 hours dead when his body was found in his own office.”

**September 15, 2019 | 1:30 p.m**

“Tommy, I’m home,” Tubbo called as he entered the house. He looked up and saw Tommy was standing on the side of the couch, looking at the very spot he found Phil the night before. Tubbo closed the door behind him and placed his bag on the side of a different couch in the living room. He starts walking to the kitchen to settle down the take-outs he bought from a fastfood chain.   
“You wanna eat?” Tubbo turned around to look at Tommy, but he saw no one there. Tommy went up the stairs into his room.

“I guess not…”

Meanwhile, Tommy started muttering to himself in his room, pacing back and forth with the look of frustration plastered on his face.

“How… How一who could’ve done this?” He slammed his hands on to his study table, which at this time seemed to be what he did most. The poor table was about to break at the amount of times it’s been hit.

Suddenly, Tubbo knocked on his door. “Tommy, can we talk,” he asked. Tommy stopped and stood still in his place, wondering if he’ll let his brother in. Eventually, he opened the door and Tubbo walked in.

“What happened to your room?”

Tommy looked around as if he was new to the place. “Uhh… I was, um, redecorating.” He looked back to Tubbo and asked, “What did you want to talk about?”

“About that, um, I had a talk with the investigators earlier after the visit to the crime lab for the autopsies.” Tubbo seemed hesitant to tell Tommy, but he needed to know the findings.

“Tommy they’re thinking that Phil and Wilbur was murdered by Techno, then he poisoned himself in his office after.”

After those words went out from Tubbo’s mouth, rage filled Tommy. How dare they even think of such a thing. “He would never do that.”

“That’s what I told them as well, but they insisted that there was no suspect because the suspect is dead一!”

“THE SUSPECT IS NOT DEAD! I’ll bet you my own life that the murderer is out there having margaritas in the Bahamas as we speak.”

Tubbo combed his hair to the side with his hand and took a deep breath. “You’re saying that the authorities are wrong.”

At this point Tommy was raging. He was standing up tall, hand curled into a fist ready for a fight. “They are dead wrong and I will prove it.”

“Tommy… You’re in denial.”

“I’m not. I know I’m right.”

“You’re always right in that brain of yours. You don’t listen一”

“They don’t have evidence!”

This time, Tubbo stood up, he started getting riled up. “They provided me proof, Tommy!”

Tommy’s expressions hardened, he heard something he did not believe.

“W-what?”

“They found Techno’s finger prints on Wilbur’s chair. The one they found used to frame Wilbur’s suicide.”

Tommy didn’t believe it. He knew Techno was innocent, and he’ll do anything to prove it.

“They are wrong.”

“Tommy, please don’t be difficult.”

“YOU DON’T BE DIFFICULT. You’d at least deny this stupid accusations they are doing if you actually cared about our family. You’d let me prove something”   
“I do care! It’s just that they have proper evidence一.”

“What? A single finger print? You think that’s enough to prove a man’s crime? What if I accused you for eating my pudding just because of a single finger print on the lid? It wouldn’t make sense, would it? YOU DON’T JUST BASE OFF OF A SINGLE EVIDENCE.”

Silence laid between them for a few seconds. Tubbo realized what Tommy was saying. For the first time, despite his expertise in these sorts of things, Tommy had the clearest of heads between the two of them. Grief was taking over him to the point that any evidence served up to him by a platter he’d take despite it lacking any other evidence.

“I’m going,” Tommy said as he took his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

“To where?”

“To Schlatt’s. I’m going to investigate.”

*Jeepneys are a mode of transportation in the Philippines for those who don't own a car. 9 Php (Philippine Pesos) is to be paid to ride it.


	3. Chapter 3: Dream

Tommy and Tubbo walked down the street, heading towards Schlatt’s home to seek guidance. Tommy thought that Schlatt could help them out, considering the fact that he already has before. 

“Are you sure about this,” Tubbo asked Tommy, looking at him.

“Of course, Tubbo. He’s my childhood hero and Wilbur’s old friend. Who else could I ask?”

The two reached the gate of Schlatt’s enormous mansion. Tommy rang the doorbell while Tubbo looked on in awe. “I didn’t expect it to be this big,” Tubbo said.

“Of course it’d be this big, he’s a millionaire.”

“What, like Wilbur? They never fail to match each other… Even after all these years.”

Soon enough, a security guard opened the gate for them. “Sir Schlatt has been expecting you.”

“Of course he’s been expecting me. I called him一!”

“Maybe have a couple ounces of respect,” Tubbo scolded Tommy and hit him lightly on his arms.

They kept walking until they reached the very inside of Schlatt’s mansion. They both looked around in awe, marveling at the beauty of every inch of it, from the expensive decor to the walls and marble floors.

“Welcome! Welcome to my… humble abode.”

Tommy and Tubbo looked towards the speaker, and they were ecstatic. Schlatt opened his arms to showcase his home, but Tommy took this as an invite for a hug and started running towards his childhood hero, only to be denied. 

Schlatt cleared his throat and fixed his tie and said, “So, Tommy, what did you want to talk about?” Tommy’s face once filled with delight and joy was replaced by one filled with sorrow and hatred, reminded of what he really came there to ask. 

“Schlatt, who do you think killed Wilbur, Phil, and Techno?”

Schlatt was taken aback, not expecting that kind of question from the kid. He’d most expect it coming from Tubbo, but not from Tommy.

“Do you think they got murdered?”

“Yes,” Tommy answered firmly without any hesitation.

Tubbo joins in the conversation. “The police told us they were thinking Techno killed Wilbur and Phil and ended his own life afterwards.”

“Basing off of just one lousy evidence that doesn’t even prove much,” Tommy added.

Schlatt held his chin, thinking deeply about what they had told him. “Didn’t Bad hold their case? He doesn’t do sloppy work.”

Tubbo explained, “The case got transferred to another detective since the new chief of police assigned Bad to another case.”

“That explains it.”

Schlatt sighs. He starts walking towards the living room, motioning Tubbo and Tommy to follow him. “Have a seat.”

They started discussing possible suspects, based on the events of the past and the motives they may have. All the people Tubbo and Tommy had thought about weren’t plausible. Then finally, Schlatt remembered someone.

“How about Dream?”

It’s been years since they have heard of that name, since no one at home dared utter it. “Dream. What about that bastard,” Tommy asked.

“Well, didn’t he and Wilbur have an argument about business in the past?”

Tubbo remembers this. “Yeah! They used to be business partners but they had a fight and decided to stop working with each other.”

“How could it be Dream though?” Tommy thought that Dream wasn’t a suspect at all. Sure business partners could fall apart and out of touch, but they wouldn’t plant hate that deep, right?

Schlatt explained his thoughts, saying, “Perhaps Dream saw the immense success of Wilbur with his company in such a small amount of time. Jealousy and greed can fuel someone’s drive to kill.”

“We’ll start from there,” Tommy said, standing up and getting ready to leave. He propped up his backpack on his back and started walking towards the door. “Wait,” Schlatt called. “Aren’t you going to stay for a little bit? Have a small cup of tea with me?”

Tea.  _ I hate tea.  _ Tommy thought. “No thanks,” he said without looking and walked away.

Tubbo follows after his brother, apologizing to Schlatt before they leave.

The gate closes behind them. Tubbo thanks the guard for accompanying them on the way out. The two stood there, Tubbo waiting for Tommy to lead. Tommy got his phone out and seemed to be typing in a few digits. He raised his phone to his ears and waited.

“Who are you calling,” asked Tubbo.

“Sapnap.”   
“One of your online friends?”

“Yeah. Also one of Dream’s closest friends. If anyone knew where Dream is, that would be him.”

Finally, the phone was answered and a raspy voice saying “Hello?” can be heard on the other line.

“Sapnap. It’s me, Tommy.”

“Oh, Tommy. What’s up? Condolences to you and Tubbo, by the way. Must be hard.”

Tommy took a sharp breath. “Thank you. And yeah, it is.”

“I’m sorry that happened.”

There was a brief pause between them but Tommy decided to get straight to the point. “Sapnap, do you know where Dream’s gonna be tonight?”

Sapnap scratched his head, looking at the mirror trying to fix his bed hair. “Uhh, yeah we’ll be at the bar later.”

“At the bar? Aren’t you prohibited from drinking since you’re not 21 yet?”

“Yeah… I just drive him there and I stay in the car for hours waiting for him.” Sapnap groaned at the thought of it. Dream rarely drunk, but when he does, he makes his time worthwhile. 

“Good. I’ll meet you there.”

“What do you mean you’ll meet me there? You’re a kid一.”

Tommy ended the call and closed his phone, putting it in his pocket.

“He’s gonna be at a bar later,” he said as he turned to Tubbo. Tubbo hoped it was at a restaurant or something more child friendly lacking liquor, but those hopes were crushed quick. “How are we going to talk to him if he’s somewhere we can’t enter.”

“What do you mean we can’t enter?”

“We’re minors, Tommy. We can’t go into establishments like that.”

“With the right IDs and mindset, we can.”


	4. Chapter 4: Right IDs and Mindset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SBI AU in which Tommy and Tubbo works together in order to solve the mysterious deaths of their adoptive brothers and father.
> 
> Will they solve the mystery, or fall into misery?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS!  
> mention of suicide  
> character death  
> violence  
> blood/gore  
> guns  
> crime (fraud)  
> bars (?)

**September 15 | 6:45 p.m**

“How do you know a guy that makes fake IDs?!”

Tubbo and Tommy walked down a thin alleyway lined by *informal settlers in their makeshift houses made of plywood. Tubbo felt pity seeing the scenery of the slums in their area.

“I knew the guy from an online game I played,” Tommy told Tubbo. They kept walking until they reached a thin red house with a fence made out of severed pieces of galvanized iron sheets that usually serves as a roof for houses. A man stood on the porch taking a sip of something from his Christmas mug despite it not being Christmas. He was a bit odd, wearing a hat with cat ears and a pair of goggles over his eyes that got misty whenever he drank from his mug.

“Excuse me,” Tommy called out mildly. The man looked over to where they stood, squinting. “Do you know a guy by the name of Antfrost?” The man relaxed his expressions and settled his mug on a tall narrow table next to him. “That would be me.” He walked closer to the gate of his small, humble home. “What do you want?”

“I’m Tommy. I talked to you over on Discord several nights ago. We need some IDs made.”

“Hmmm… you do sound like him. Come in,” Antfrost said as he opened the gate for the two. He led them to his garage where his makeshift studio lies.

“What’s the ID for,” Antfrost asked, starting up his lamination machine, his printer, and booted up his PC. 

“We need it to enter a bar.”

“Aren’t you two too young to be partying with liquor?”

“We just need it to talk to someone. We’re investigating a crime,” Tubbo explained.

“Crime?”

“Murder, specifically.”

Antfrost hummed as he worked while Tommy and Tubbo stood in front of his studio waiting patiently. “You can sit there while you wait. It’ll take a while,” Antfrost said, pointing to a couple of seats, one of them having a broken leg.

**September 15, 2019 | 7:35 p.m**

“Do you think Dad would approve of what we’re doing?”

Tubbo chuckled and answered, “I reckon he won’t. He’d be disappointed.”

The whirring of the lamination machine filled the silence between them. Tubbo wondered when this dream-like adventure of investigating their own brothers’ and father’s death would end. He’d like the rest. Then he realized, what happens after this?

“Hey, Tommy?”

“Yeah?”

Tubbo stared at the ground. “What happens after this?”

“We get adopted by Aunt Puffy if she wants us.”

“If she doesn’t?” Tubbo looked at Tommy with uncertainty.

“We get adopted by someone else. We might go back to L’Orphanage.” Tommy seemed to not care much about them suddenly being orphaned, but did. He was scared about the possibility of them going back to the orphanage, for that meant there is a possibility of him and Tubbo to be separated. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to be alone.

“It’s done. Use it wisely. And I DON’T want this tracked back to me.” Antfrost handed them the fake IDs and ushered them away. He walked them out and before Tubbo and Tommy got far, he told them, “Be careful. Your brothers and your dad won’t want to see you soon.”

**September 15, 2019 | 9:30 p.m**

“Is this it,” Tubbo looked at the sign of the bar. It says ‘El Rapids’, odd name.

“Yeah,” Tommy looked up from his phone, where he was looking at the gps for the address Sapnap texted him hours ago. “This is it.”

“Ready?” Tubbo nodded as a response. They walked closer to the bar until they were in front of the entrance. Before they entered, someone recognized them and called them. “Hey, Tommy, Tubbo!”

They turn around and they see Sapnap in the driver’s seat leaning over to the rolled down window of the shotgun seat.

“Hey, Sapnap.”

“Hi, nice to meet you. Tubbo,” Tubbo introduced himself to Sapnap, extending his hand to him for a handshake. Sapnap accepted it and shook it lightly. “Hey. Sapnap. I’ve heard of you before. Tommy talks a lot about you.”

“Does he?” Tubbo looked back at Tommy, who seemed to be scratching his neck and whistling a random song. 

“Yeah. So, you’re looking for Dream?”

Tommy chimed in the conversation. “Yeah. Is he inside,” he asked. “Yeah. Yeah, he is. Don’t tell me you’re going in.”

Tommy and Tubbo showed their fake IDs, Tommy with a confident smile on his face while Tubbo seemed a bit more uncertain about what he’s about to commit.

“You do know you might get found out and get sued with fraud, right?”

“Yeah, but we’re minors. We are also now orphans. Besides, this is all done for good.” Tommy started walking inside the bar, showing his card to the bouncer who then let him in. 

Tubbo bid Sapnap goodbye and followed Tommy in the bar, showing his fake ID to the bouncer as he did.

The two looked around a bit, but a bright green hoodie isn’t that hard to spot.

“Dream,” Tommy said as he approached Dream in one of the hubs. Dream looks up from drinking his beer.

“Tommy. Nice to meet you after all those years.”

Tommy eyes Dream for a moment until Tubbo nudged him with his elbow.

“Tubbo too,” Dream said as he looked over to Tubbo. 

“Hey.”

Dream invited the two to sit down and be comfortable. “Man, it’s been years. I can’t believe you guys are old enough to enter a bar already.”

Tubbo starts to sweat and hesitantly tells Dream, “Yeah… We’re… We’re not really…” Tubbo paused. He whispered, “We’re not really allowed in here yet.”

Dream said, surprised, “Wait, WHAT?”


End file.
